The Irish God of the Dead

[Donal2018]

So I have been dwelling on life, death, mortality, and ancestors. As a result I have been drawn to the Irish God Donn ("dark one") believed to be the God of Death. I have for a long time been focused on Welsh Gods, mainly Gwydion and Cerridwen, as guides to spiritual transformation.

I have lately been looking towards Irish Deities, not limited to Donn, but also Brigid as a multi-faceted Goddess of hearth, poetry and healing. I mention Donn here because he seems more mysterious and unknown and I am thinking about life, death, and afterlife. So I am wondering if anyone has interacted with Donn, or know any good resources about him.

[Donal2018]

So I have been dwelling on life, death, mortality, and ancestors. As a result I have been drawn to the Irish God Donn ("dark one") believed to be the God of Death. I have for a long time been focused on Welsh Gods, mainly Gwydion and Cerridwen, as guides to spiritual transformation.

I have lately been looking towards Irish Deities, not limited to Donn, but also Brigid as a multi-faceted Goddess of hearth, poetry and healing. I mention Donn here because he seems more mysterious and unknown and I am thinking about life, death, and afterlife. So I am wondering if anyone has interacted with Donn, or know any good resources about him.

Not sure if this link will work, but thought it is an interesting reference to Donn-

Donn, the Mysterious Irish Lord of the Dead-

http://www.irishcentral.com/roots/history/donn-mysterious-irish-lord-of-the-dead

[PerditaPickle]

Not sure if this link will work, but thought it is an interesting reference to Donn-

Donn, the Mysterious Irish Lord of the Dead-

http://www.irishcentral.com/roots/history/donn-mysterious-irish-lord-of-the-dead

The link does indeed work (at least for me), and I found it an interesting read, though I've no prior knowledge of Donn, unfortunately.

I agree with the final paragraph of the item: "The ancient Irish knew how to tell a thrilling story, and the legacy they left us is shrouded in mystery and lore!" 

[Micheál]

So I am wondering if anyone has interacted with Donn, or know any good resources about him.

It's weird because I've always encountered more lore about him than what's actually written in the myths. There's a good passage on him in Dáithí Ó hÓgáin's "Lore of Ireland."
Although they're probably three separate entities, you get a lot of correlations with Donn, the Daghdha, and for me personally with Aodh(linked to a maiden name of my mum) as being ancestral gods that could be designations of each other. Donn definitely takes over as the god of the dead though, and belief of an otherwordly realm associated with death and the west is credited to him and his house/Teach Duinn.

[Donal2018]

It's weird because I've always encountered more lore about him than what's actually written in the myths. There's a good passage on him in Dáithí Ó hÓgáin's "Lore of Ireland."
Although they're probably three separate entities, you get a lot of correlations with Donn, the Daghdha, and for me personally with Aodh(linked to a maiden name of my mum) as being ancestral gods that could be designations of each other. Donn definitely takes over as the god of the dead though, and belief of an otherwordly realm associated with death and the west is credited to him and his house/Teach Duinn.

Thanks for posting. I have been thinking about Donn quite a bit lately. Thinking about life, death, afterlife, and ancestors. I have been thinking of doing a night ritual to him and my ancestors. I am inspired to use water and maybe flowers for some reason. I am also looking into death planning for myself. I am alive and well right now, but would like to plan my own Will and Memorial Service.

I have been focused on death for my whole life since my Father died when I was young. I think Donn might be a good Patron for Hospice Workers, Funeral Directors, etc. I am also looking into Right to Die as a practical matter. The movement's motto is "Good Life, Good Death".

Anyway, I am developing a devotion to Donn. Thanks for commenting. I will look up that Lore of Ireland reference that you provided. Let me know if you find anything else about him. I will report back if I discover anything new or useful about Donn. There seems to be a lot of folk lore about him outside of the myths, as you point out.